Didactic model of singing development of children with Down Syndrome

Abstract

In my master's dissertation I explore the topic of singing development of children with Down Syndrome (DS). I claim that musical art is very important for the holistic development of a child. Due to its expansion and the principle of equal rights for all, it is good that we make musical education available also to people with special needs and thus contribute to their quality of life. Singing abilities of DS children vary a lot, which is why educational work needs to be adjusted to their special needs. In the theoretical part I present musical activities and their methods, among which I especially emphasize methods of singing. In this part I describe developmental (strong and weak aspects of life) and musical characteristics of children with DS. In the empirical part I present a qualitative research of a case study, in which I studied the model of music didactics approaches to work with DS children at the age of eight. Before implementing music didactics I interviewed the parents of the child and the special education teacher about the developmental individualities of the child (strong and weak aspects). I tested the level of the child's musical development with experiments of musical capabilities in the areas of rhythmic and melodic hearing. On the basis of the received data I designed a music didactics model to encourage the child's singing development. In the process of implementing the music didactics model, I was following the child's singing development on the basis of qualitative analysis of videos and observational protocol. At the end of the music didactics model I assessed the level of the child's singing development with a re-test of the child's musical abilities in the areas of rhythmic and melodic hearing. Relying on my findings I got from up-to-date monitoring and the final test I was assessing the effectiveness of the music didactics model in the area of encouraging singing development in a child with DS. My findings have shown an improvement in breath control, phonation, rhythm, melody, musical memory, singing imitation and reproduction. This research contributes to the development of music didactics in the field of work with people with special needs, especially children with DS. The didactic model will be transferable to the practical part of music education in children with DS.